Editing Demopolis, Alabama (section)

===Colonization===
Organizing first in [[Philadelphia]], French expatriates petitioned the U.S. Congress to sell them property for land to colonize. Congress granted approval by an act on March 3, 1817, that allowed them to buy four townships in the [[Alabama Territory]] at $2 per acre, with the provision that they cultivate grape vines and olive trees. Following advice obtained from experienced pioneers, they determined that Alabama would provide a good climate for cultivating these crops. By July 14, 1817, a small party of pioneers had settled at [[White Bluff (Demopolis, Alabama)|White Bluff]] on the Tombigbee River, at the present site of Demopolis, founding the [[Vine and Olive Colony]].<ref name="vine1">{{cite book|last=Smith |first=Winston |title=Days of Exile: The Story of the Vine and Olive Colony in Alabama |pages=31–43 |location=Tuscaloosa, Alabama |publisher=W. B. Drake and Son |year=1967}}</ref>

Among the wealthiest and most prominent of the group was [[Charles Lefebvre-Desnouettes|Count Lefebvre Desnouettes]], who had been a cavalry officer under Napoleon, with the rank of [[lieutenant-general]]. He had ridden in Napoleon's carriage during his [[French invasion of Russia|failed invasion of Russia]]. Other prominent figures among the immigrants included Lieutenant-General Baron [[François Antoine Lallemand|Henri-Dominique Lallemand]], Count [[Bertrand Clauzel]], [[Joseph Lakanal]], Simon Chaudron, Pasqual Luciani, Colonel Jean-Jerome Cluis, Jean-Marie Chapron, Colonel Nicholas Raoul, and Frederic Ravesies. Most of these expatriates had little interest in pioneer life and sold their shares in the colony, remaining in Philadelphia.<ref name="vine2">{{harvp|Smith|1967|pp=96–115}}.</ref> By 1818, the colony consisted of only 69 settlers.<ref name="eoa1">{{Cite encyclopedia|last=Blaufarb |first=Rafe |url=http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1539 |title=Vine and Olive Colony |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Alabama |publisher=Auburn University |date=May 19, 2008 |access-date=October 5, 2010 |archive-date=November 4, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104194710/http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1539 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The party encountered a variety of adversities. Following a survey in August 1818, they learned that their new properties did not fall under the territories encompassed by the congressional approval, and the Vine and Olive Colony was soon forced to move. Their actual land grants began less than a mile to the east of their newly cleared land. After abandoning the settlement of Demopolis, they soon established two other towns, [[Aigleville, Alabama|Aigleville]] and [[Arcola, Alabama|Arcola]].<ref name="vine3">{{harvp|Smith|1967|pp= 47–53}}.</ref>